Michigan (Finally) Launching Industrial Hemp Program

Michigan’s Governor and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
(MDARD) have launched the state’s Industrial Hemp Ag Pilot Program for the 2019 planting season.

The call has gone out to farmers, processors and institutions of higher learning
to get involved.

“This emerging crop not only cultivates new opportunity for our farming community, but it also creates an avenue for new businesses to crop up across the
state,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

It’s been a long road to this point. Back in 2015 then-Governor
Snyder signed HB
5440 into law, which revised the definition of “marihuana” to exclude
industrial hemp grown or cultivated for research. On the same day, HB
5439 was signed off, authorising industrial hemp research.

In late December last year, several bills were signed into law by Governor
Snyder that amended the Industrial Hemp Research Act, creating the new
Industrial Hemp Research and Development Act.

Michigan’s program will be rather restrictive. While the 2018 federal Farm Bill authorizes
commercial production and processing of the crop, the USDA is yet to put
guidelines in place and each state will need to submit a plan before proceeding. Therefore, Michigan’s program
for this year will operate under provisions
in the 2014 Farm Bill.

“Michigan’s pilot program allows our farmers to explore the production and processing for hemp to determine whether or not this is a financially viable crop for them,”
said MDARD Director Gary McDowell.

Applications will be accepted from April 23. All parties participating in the
Industrial Hemp Ag-Pilot program will be required to enter into a research
agreement with MDARD and will be considered by the Department as conducting
research on behalf of MDARD, in line with 2014 Farm Bill provisions.

MDARD will be holding a series of on-site
licensing events in the coming week, at which attendees ticking all the boxes will
be provided with a temporary Hemp Grower Registration or Hemp Processor-Handler
License.

Even prior to the application forms being available online there was plenty
of interest registered, with hundreds providing their email addresses to receive
updates on the program.

Gillian Jalimnson is one of Hemp Gazette's staff writers and has been with us since we kicked off in 2015. Gillian sees massive potential for cannabis in areas of health, energy, building and personal care products and is intrigued by the potential for cannabidiol (CBD) as an alternative to conventional treatments. You can contact Gillian here.